New Party To Emerge From PDP, Says Party Stalwart

BEVERLY HILLS, September 03, (THEWILL) – A new political party may emerge from the defeated Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) before the 2019 general elections, a stalwart of the party and Osi Olubadan of Ibadan, Senator Lekan Balogun has said.

Balogun disclosed this on Thursday during the monthly Guest Forum of Oodua Newspapers held at Ijikodo, Ibadan.

“I foresee a new party emerging out of the fall of PDP from power after the 2015 elections when the ruling All Progressives Congress took over.

“Some members of the party have gotten to a point of no return and I think they could break away,” he said, according to a news report by the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN).

The PDP controlled power at the center for 16 years until it was defeated in the 2015 elections.

Balogun said that the party failed in its re-election bid because its leadership refused to listen to the advice of elders.

The former lawmaker, who took a cursory look at the collapse of the PDP in Oyo State, warned APC not to make the same mistake.

“The fall of PDP in Oyo State and at the federal level is dialectic.

“Former President Goodluck Jonathan was good, but some of his ministers and party men did not help matters,” he said.

Balogun, who claimed to have sent several text messages to PDP leaders in Abuja advising them without any response, said he predicted what happened to the party.

He said that the extent of the damage to the party’s fortunes was more obvious after the elections.

Balogun also said Nigerians should be patient with President Muhammadu Buhari over allegations of lopsided appointments.

“Appointments are made based on principles of intellect, character and national spread.

“President Buhari is a very disciplined leader and I know he would address the issue in subsequent appointments,” he said.

He, however, called on the National Assembly and the executive to work together to promote good governance.